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EP1748494B1 - Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde comprenant des nanostructures allongées - Google Patents

Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde comprenant des nanostructures allongées Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1748494B1
EP1748494B1 EP05077989A EP05077989A EP1748494B1 EP 1748494 B1 EP1748494 B1 EP 1748494B1 EP 05077989 A EP05077989 A EP 05077989A EP 05077989 A EP05077989 A EP 05077989A EP 1748494 B1 EP1748494 B1 EP 1748494B1
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Prior art keywords
elongate nanostructures
wavelength
photoconductor unit
photoconductor
sensitive detector
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP1748494A1 (fr
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Anne Verhulst
Wilfried Vandervorst
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Interuniversitair Microelektronica Centrum vzw IMEC
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Interuniversitair Microelektronica Centrum vzw IMEC
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Priority to US11/475,300 priority Critical patent/US7598482B1/en
Priority to JP2006203330A priority patent/JP2007043150A/ja
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
    • H10F77/00—Constructional details of devices covered by this subclass
    • H10F77/10—Semiconductor bodies
    • H10F77/14—Shape of semiconductor bodies; Shapes, relative sizes or dispositions of semiconductor regions within semiconductor bodies
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
    • H10F30/00—Individual radiation-sensitive semiconductor devices in which radiation controls the flow of current through the devices, e.g. photodetectors
    • H10F30/10—Individual radiation-sensitive semiconductor devices in which radiation controls the flow of current through the devices, e.g. photodetectors the devices being sensitive to infrared radiation, visible or ultraviolet radiation, and having no potential barriers, e.g. photoresistors
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S977/00—Nanotechnology
    • Y10S977/902—Specified use of nanostructure
    • Y10S977/932—Specified use of nanostructure for electronic or optoelectronic application
    • Y10S977/953—Detector using nanostructure
    • Y10S977/954—Of radiant energy

Definitions

  • This invention relates to wavelength-sensitive detectors using elongate nanostructures, more particularly the invention relates to detection systems such as photodetection systems, including photodetectors, monochromators and optics.
  • the invention furthermore relates to techniques which can be used to obtain spectral information about an incident photon beam.
  • the invention further relates to nanotechnology, more in particular the invention is based on the use of elongate nanostructures such as Nanowires (NW) or nanotubes e.g. carbon nanotubes (CNT).
  • NW Nanowires
  • CNT carbon nanotubes
  • a photodetector is a device, which measures the intensity of an incident photon beam by outputting an electrical signal proportional to the number of incident photons.
  • a photodetector is sensitive to incident photons, provided that the photon energy is larger than the bandgap of the photodetector material.
  • wavelength-sensitivity is achieved for example by using spectral filters in front of the photodetector, such that only photons in a limited spectral range are incident onto the photodetector. If these filters are produced on the photodetector substrate, the processing costs will be very high. It is also a research topic on its own to develop materials, which have a sharp pass/block transition around the desired wavelength.
  • the minimum photon energy, which can be detected, is still determined by the photodetector material.
  • Another way to achieve wavelength-sensitivity is to use a monochromator in front of the detector. The monochromator diffracts the incident photon beam and a grating then selects a particular (narrow) spectral range of the incident photon beam, which then is incident on the detector. By scanning the grating of the monochromator, the whole spectral density of the incident photon beam can be determined. At the same time, a monochromator often takes a lot of space and requires additional equipment to control the grating of the monochromator. An improved system, which avoids the above-described problems, is therefore highly desirable.
  • NC nanocrystals
  • NW nanowires
  • the present invention relates to a wavelength-sensitive detector.
  • Said wavelength-sensitive detector comprises at least a first and a second photoconductor unit.
  • Said photoconductor units are situated on a substrate lying in a plane.
  • Each of the at least first and second photoconductor units comprise a first electrode having a first main surface lying in a first plane and a second electrode having a second main surface lying in a second plane, said first and second plane being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.
  • Each individual photoconductor unit further comprises a plurality of elongate nanostructures, each elongate nanostructure having a longitudinal axis, the axis of the elongate nanostructures being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the first and second plane of the first and second main electrode surfaces. Said plurality of elongate nanostructures are positioned in between the first electrode and the second electrode.
  • the first photoconductor unit further comprises a plurality of first type elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material
  • the second photoconductor unit comprises a plurality of second type elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material, the first type elongate nanostructures being different from the second type elongate nanostructures in material and/or diameter.
  • the present invention may be formalised as follows:
  • the present invention provides a wavelength-sensitive detector comprising at least a first and a second photoconductor unit on a substrate lying in a plane, each of the at least first and second photoconductor units comprising a first electrode having a first main surface lying in a first plane and a second electrode having a second main surface lying in a second plane, the first and second plane of a photoconductor unit being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate , wherein the first photoconductor unit comprises a plurality of first type elongate nanostructures being positioned in between the first electrode and the second electrode of the first photoconductor unit, the elongate nanostructures each having a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axes of the first type elongate nanostructures being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the first and second plane of the first and second main electrode surfaces of the first photoconductor unit, and wherein the second photoconductor
  • elongate nanostructures are meant any two-dimensionally confined pieces of solid material in the form of wires (nanowires), tubes (nanotubes), rods (nanorods) and similar elongated substantially cylindrical or polygonal nanostructures having a longitudinal axis.
  • a cross-dimension of the elongate nanostructures preferably lies in the region of 1 to 500 nanometers.
  • organic elongate nanostructures such as e.g. carbon nanotubes
  • inorganic elongate nanostructures such as e.g. semiconducting nanowires (e.g. silicon nanowires) may be used.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures in each photoconductor are preferably formed of a semiconducting material.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures can for example be single walled carbon nanotubes.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector can comprise at least one photoconductor unit wherein the plurality of elongate nanostructures in at least one of the first and second photoconductor units are partly n-type doped and partly p-type doped such that a pn diode is created within said at least one photoconductor unit.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures in a photoconductor unit may be stacked next to and/or on top of each other.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures may be positioned in an array comprising rows and columns of elongate nanostructures.
  • the array may be a periodic array.
  • the first and second electrodes of a photoconductor unit are preferably made of conductive materials, such as e.g. metals, alloys, poly-Si, metal-silicides, etc.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures used in the at least first and second photoconductor units preferably have a diameter from 0.3 nm up to 300 nm and more preferred a diameter smaller than 100 nm, i.e. a diameter between 0.3 nm and 100 nm.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures used in the photoconductor units can be made of any of group IV materials or binary compounds thereof, group III/V materials or binary, tertiary or quaternary compounds thereof, or group II/VI or binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures used in the photoconductor units can have a doping profile.
  • the plurality of elongate nanostructures in the photoconductor units may be embedded in a material which is transparent in the range of wavelengths to be detected or in the range of photon energies of interest.
  • a preferred and alternative set-up for the wavelength-sensitive detector of the present invention may comprise at least a first and a second photoconductor unit whereby the first photoconductor unit is situated between the substrate and the second photoconductor unit.
  • Said second photoconductor unit may further be characterized as having a plurality of second type elongate nanostructures with a larger bandgap than the plurality of first type elongate nanostructures in the (underlying) first photoconductor and/or may be characterized as having a plurality of second type elongate nanostructures oriented in a direction being substantially perpendicular with the direction of the plurality of first type elongate nanostructures in the first photoconductor unit.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector of the present invention can be used for determining a frequency of incident radiation, e.g. light.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector of the present invention can be used for determining a polarization direction of incident radiation, e.g. light.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector may comprise at least a first and second photoconductor unit wherein the first photoconductor unit may comprise first type elongate nanostructures oriented in a first direction and the second photoconductor unit may comprise second type elongate nanostructures oriented in a second direction. Said first and second direction may preferably be substantially perpendicular with respect to each other.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector of the present invention can be used for converting an optical signal into an electrical signal and determining a frequency of incident light at the same time.
  • the wavelength-sensitive detector of the present invention can be used for representing one pixel of a color sensitive camera.
  • the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a wavelength-sensitive detector unit, the wavelength-sensitive detector unit comprising at least two photoconductor units.
  • the method comprises providing a substrate lying in a plane and providing on said substrate a first and a second photoconductor unit.
  • Providing a photoconductor unit comprises providing a first electrode, having a first main surface lying in a first plane , providing a second electrode, having a second main surface lying in a second plane , the first plane and the second plane being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially parallel to the plane of the substrate.
  • Providing a photoconductor unit furthermore comprises providing a plurality of elongate nanostructures having ends, the ends of the elongate nanostructures being attached to the first and second main surface of the first and second electrode, each elongate nanostructure having a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axes of the plurality of elongate nanostructures being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the first and second plane of the first and second main electrode surfaces.
  • providing the first and second photoconductor units comprises providing a first photoconductor unit with a first type of elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material and a second photoconductor unit with a second type of elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material, the first type of elongate nanostructures being different from the second type of elongate nanostructures in material and/or diameter.
  • the first main surface of said first electrode can be used as catalyst for elongate nanostructure growth, alternatively catalyst particles can be deposited on the first main surface of the first electrode before elongate nanostructure growth.
  • a second electrode is provided, said second electrode having a second main surface lying in a second plane , the first plane (from the first electrode) and second plane being substantially parallel to each other and being substantially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.
  • the startpoints and respectively ends of said plurality of elongate nanostructures are attached to respectively the first and second of the first and second electrode, or in other words, the plurality of elongate nanostructures are positioned in between the first and second electrode, said plurality of elongate nanostructures having their axis substantially parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to the first and second plane of the first and second main electrode surfaces.
  • providing a first photoconductor unit may comprise providing a plurality of first type elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material and providing a second photoconductor unit may comprise providing a plurality of second type elongate nanostructures having substantially a same diameter and being formed of a same material, the first type and second type elongate nanostructures being different from each other in material and/or diameter.
  • the step of providing a plurality of elongate nanostructures may preferably be performed by growing elongate nanostructures by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or pulsed laser deposition techniques (PLD).
  • the step of providing a plurality of elongate nanostructures may be performed by growing elongate nanostructures onto the first main surface of the first electrode.
  • catalyst particles may be deposited onto the first main surface of the first electrode which may be used to start elongate nanostructure growth.
  • a transparent material can be deposited in between the plurality of elongate nanostructures.
  • Said material can be a sacrificial material that can be removed after the manufacturing of the at least first and second photoconductor units.
  • the method for manufacturing the wavelength-sensitive detector may furthermore comprise steps for adding additional signal-processing circuitry to the at least first and second photoconductor units.
  • Figure 1 shows a top view of the wavelength sensitive photodetector as presented in the current invention with the use of nanowires.
  • Figure 2 shows a top view of a wavelength sensitive photodetector structure, which includes both orientations of wires on chip such that also the polarization of the light is being measured.
  • Figure 3 shows a side view on a partial unit of nanowires showing a three dimensional (3D) stacking of the nanowires (both horizontally and vertically extending arrays), according to an aspect of the present invention.
  • Figure 4 shows a side view on three units of nanowires, which are vertically stacked, according to another embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 5 shows a top view on a photodetector structure showing nanowires with a pn-junction, according to another embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figures 6A-6B display photoluminescence data of InP nanowires as a function of nanowire diameter.
  • Figure 6A shows the photoluminescence spectra at varying nanowire diameters and
  • Figure 6B displays the photon energies of the peak maxima of the photoluminescence spectra as a function of nanowire diameter.
  • Figure 7 is a Kataura plot (theoretical calculation) of the Van Hove singularities in metallic (a) and semiconducting (b) carbon nanotubes.
  • Figure 8 illustrates the color-sensitive camera application. It shows a potential spectrum of an incident light beam and the preferred bandgap of the three units of nanowires (U 1 ), U 2 , U 3 ) which together represent one pixel of the color-sensitive camera.
  • Figure 9 shows the theoretically expected density of states of 1D structures.
  • nanowires can be replaced by any other suitable elongate nanostructure, in particular any two-dimensionally confined pieces of solid material in the form of wires (nanowires), tubes (nanotubes), rods (nanorods) and similar elongated substantially cylindrical or polygonal nanostructures having a longitudinal axis.
  • the invention discloses a wavelength sensitive photodetector. More specifically it relates to a wavelength sensitive photodetector based on nanowires (NW). A cross-dimension of the nanowires preferably lies in the region of 1 to 500 nanometers.
  • organic nanowires such as e.g. carbon nanotubes, or inorganic nanowires, such as e.g. semiconducting (e.g. silicon) nanowires may be used. More specifically, the creation of one silicon chip comprising units of horizontally stacked nanowires is disclosed whereby the ensemble of these units functions as a wavelength-sensitive detector.
  • One single unit of horizontally stacked nanowires is further characterized as a unit comprising NW or CNT whereby said NW or CNT are made from same material and have a substantially same diameter and length.
  • Different units comprising horizontally stacked NW or CNT are combined whereby the ensemble of these units functions as a wavelength sensitive detector. More specifically, each unit of nanowires acts as a photoconductor, which turns on when the photon energy of the light is above a certain value.
  • the different units, which are combined on the chip to form a wavelength-sensitive detector differ from each other in material and/or diameter. Most preferred the different units of NW or photoconductor units are situated on one single chip.
  • each individually photoconductor unit comprising horizontally stacked nanowires of same material is such that the stacking of the nanowires is parallel to the substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer) on which the photoconductor unit is attached.
  • the material of the NW is semiconducting, in case of carbon nanotubes so called “metallic” carbon nanotubes can also be used.
  • Examples of materials that can be used to produce said (semiconducting) NW are group IV materials such as Si, Ge, C and binary compounds thereof, group III/V materials such as In, Ga, As, Sb, Al, P, B, N and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof and group II/VI materials such as Cd, Zn, S, Se, Te, O and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof.
  • group IV materials such as Si, Ge, C and binary compounds thereof
  • group III/V materials such as In, Ga, As, Sb, Al, P, B, N and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof and group II/VI materials such as Cd, Zn, S, Se, Te, O and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof.
  • Preferred examples are e.g. GaAs, InP, ZnO, GaAs x P y , AlGaAs, semiconducting carbon nanotubes, etc.
  • the nanowires are free standing but they can also be embedded in a material, which is transparent in the range of photon energies of interest.
  • a material which is transparent in the range of photon energies of interest.
  • both sides (or in other words both endings) of said horizontally stacked nanowires are connected to an electrode, said electrodes being a conductive material that is further connected to a signal processing box.
  • the conductive material of the electrodes used to connect both ends of the nanowires are of the same material, preferred materials for these electrodes are metals, poly-Si, alloys or silicides.
  • the different photoconductor units need to be combined, preferably on the same substrate.
  • the different units are either made of nanowires with different materials e.g. originating from group IV materials such as Si, Ge, C and binary compounds thereof, group III/V materials such as In, Ga, As, Sb, Al, P, B, N and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof and group II/VI materials such as Cd, Zn, S, Se, Te, O and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof.
  • the different units are made of nanowires with same material but with different diameters.
  • the bandgap of the nanowires in each unit will be different. Therefore, if a photon beam of a particular frequency is irradiating the chip, all units for which the photon beam is above the bandgap will turn on, and all units for which the photon energy of the light is below the bandgap will remain off. In this way, the chip acts as a wavelength-sensitive photodetector.
  • a method is also disclosed to fabricate the individual nanowires.
  • the method to fabricate the individual nanowires starts with the production and deposition of catalyst particles.
  • the crystalline nanowires or carbon nanotubes are then grown by for example Chemical Vapour deposition (CVD).
  • the additional circuitry can be fabricated before or after the nanowire growth. It must be clear that there are many different alternatives to produce the proposed structure. For example: the nanowires could also be produced beforehand, and then only be incorporated afterwards onto the substrate.
  • a method whereby the sensitivity of the individually photoconductor units can be increased by increasing the number of horizontal wires in the 2D array, or by using a 3D structure.
  • the vertical stacking increases the sensitivity, as long as the length of nanowire material in the vertical dimension is not larger than the absorption length, at which point most of the light is absorbed by the above-lying nanowires.
  • the sensitivity is also determined by the size of the chip, because the incident beam is illuminating the whole chip at the same time.
  • the wavelength sensitivity of the proposed photodetector can be improved by vertical stacking of different units.
  • the top unit is by preference such, that the bandgap is larger than the bandgap of the underlying unit.
  • the light, which falls onto the underlying unit does no longer contain the photons which are absorbed by the top unit. Therefore, the signal produced by the underlying unit is solely due to photons in the spectral range which is above the bandgap of the unit, but not in the range of absorption of the top unit.
  • the polarization of the incident light can also be determined, by producing units with substantially same nanowires but with orthogonal orientations. This is because the incident light is only absorbed if the polarization of the light is along the direction of the nanowire length.
  • the diameter of the nanowires used in the individual photoconductor units are small enough such that the growth of crystalline wires is possible. This typically requires nanowire diameters below 100 nm. To get a bandgap shift with decreasing diameter, the diameter has to be small enough such that confinement effects are showing up. The diameter at which this starts is material dependent, but the shift typically starts at diameters of about 10 nm. If the nanowires are carbon nanotubes, the diameters are typically on the order of 0.5 nm - 6 nm.
  • the (semiconducting) nanowires of the above described photoconductor units can have a doping profile and form photodiodes, such as pn-diodes, p-i-n diodes, avalanche photodiodes, etc.
  • a photoconductor unit containing photodiodes is then called a photodiode unit.
  • photodiode units the electrical response is faster compared to the previous described photoconductor units.
  • the photoconductor units of the present invention are possible. As an example, three major areas are disclosed and discussed in the present invention.
  • the first application area is situated within the field of color sensitive cameras wherein for example three different photoconductor units comprising nanowires represent one pixel of color sensitive camera.
  • the second application area is situated within the field of telecommunication wherein the wavelength sensitive detector converts the optical signal into an electrical signal while at the same time determining the frequency of the incident light beam.
  • the third application of the invention is situated within the field of spectroscopy to create a wavelength sensitive detector that can be used to determine the frequency of incident light and optionally the polarization of the incident light.
  • the following description illustrates in a first part a set up for the creation of a wavelength sensitive photodetector device making use of photoconductor units of the present invention comprising nanowires (or carbon nanotubes).
  • a wavelength sensitive photodetector device making use of photoconductor units of the present invention comprising nanowires (or carbon nanotubes).
  • some novel application areas are demonstrated using the wavelength sensitive photodetector device of the present invention.
  • a wavelength-sensitive photodetector is disclosed, that is based on nanowires (NW) or carbon nanotubes (CNT).
  • NW are parallel with respect to a common substrate and they are grouped in units of one or more parallel nanowires.
  • On both sides of the nanowire there is an electrode, whereby all nanowires in the same unit are contacted by the same two electrodes.
  • the necessary circuitry is added to read out electrical signals from the nanowire units.
  • the electronic density of states of the nanowires in each unit is different, because the material, of which the nanowires are made, is different or because the diameter of the nanowire is different.
  • Each unit of nanowires will therefore give a different response to incident photons such that wavelength-specific information can be derived with the proposed device.
  • the starting point is a substrate 1 , preferably said substrate is a silicon or SiO 2 substrate.
  • said vertical structures 2 are preferably made of conductive material such as metals, alloys, poly-Si or silicides and these structures will be used in the wavelength-sensitive photodetector as electrodes.
  • nanowires or carbon nanotubes
  • Said nanowires 3 in one particular photoconductor unit are preferably of a same material, diameter and length.
  • the material of the nanowires is preferably semiconducting material.
  • these materials are group IV materials such as Si, Ge, C and binary compounds thereof, group III/V materials such as In, Ga, As, Sb, Al, P, B, N and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof and group II/VI materials such as Cd, Zn, S, Se, Te, O and binary, tertiary and quaternary compounds thereof.
  • Preferred examples of these materials are GaAs, InP, ZnO, GaAs x P y , AlGaAs, semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
  • the diameter of the nanowires ranges from 0.3 nm up to 300 nm.
  • the different photoconductor units are either made of different material, or they are made of the same material, but with a different diameter (and/or chirality in the case of CNTs). If there is only a difference in diameter between different units, then the diameter variation is such that the electronic density of states of the units is different.
  • the density of states of a material is dependent on the diameter, once the diameter of the nanowire is so small, that quantum confinement effects occur.
  • One of the effects of quantum confinement is that the bandgap of a semiconducting material increases with decreasing diameter, as is illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 .
  • Figure 6A shows the photoluminescence spectra at varying nanowire diameters
  • Figure 6B displays the photon energy of the peak maxima of the photoluminescence spectra.
  • Figure 7 is a Kataura plot (theoretical calculation) of the Van Hove singularities in metallic (a) and semiconducting (b) carbon nanotubes.
  • the nanowires in one photoconductor unit are parallel to each other and parallel to the underlying substrate.
  • the nanowires are by preference free-standing, but they can also be embedded in a material which is transparent in the range of photon energies of interest.
  • Each unit can further contain some circuitry to process the electrical output signal upon incident light.
  • a possible fabrication method could start by first producing catalysts of substantially the same diameter and material. These catalyst particles can be directly deposited on the sidewalls of said vertical structures 2 on the substrate 1. The crystalline nanowires or carbon nanotubes are then grown by for example Chemical Vapor deposition (CVD). Alternatively the nanowires (or carbon nanotubes) could be grown on a sacrificial substrate first and subsequently be transferred towards the final substrate 1. One or both of said vertical structures 2 can also be created after the growth or after the transfer of the nanowires on the final substrate. If necessary, transparent or sacrificial material can be deposited in between the nanowires (carbon nanotubes) for mechanical support during the fabrication process. The additional signal-processing circuitry can be fabricated before or after the nanowire growth. It must be clear that there are many different alternatives to produce the proposed structure. The above procedures are given as an example only.
  • the disclosed wavelength-sensitive photodetector device operation can be described as follows.
  • the light of the incident beam falls onto the substrate, and is incident on all units at the same time. Only those units will produce an electrical signal, for which the photon energy of (part of) the incident photons is such that these photons are absorbed by the nanowires.
  • a necessary condition to get absorption is that the photon energy is above the bandgap of the nanowires.
  • the proposed structure therefore allows to determine e.g. the minimum photon energy of the incident light beam, by evaluating which units have turned on and which remained off.
  • the signal produced by the units is also proportional to the number of absorbed photons.
  • the density of states approaches one-dimensional behaviour (see Figure 8 ), which means that there are parts of the above-bandgap photons for which there is strong absorption and there are parts where there is very weak absorption.
  • the signal of each unit is therefore the integral of the multiplication of the spectrum of the incident photon beam with the spectral response function of the nanowires in the unit. The more units are present, the better the incident spectrum can be reconstructed.
  • the resolution of the resulting spectrum will be determined by the difference in electronic density of states between the different units. Typically, a resolution of 10 meV or less is expected for most of the optical spectrum up to 3 eV.
  • the sensitivity of the proposed wavelength-sensitive photodetector can be increased by increasing the number of horizontal wires, or by using a 3-dimensional stacking as shown in Figure 3 .
  • the vertical stacking increases the sensitivity, as long as the length of nanowire material in the vertical dimension is not larger than the absorption length, at which point most of the light is absorbed by the above-lying nanowires.
  • the wavelength selectivity of the proposed photodetector can be improved by vertical stacking of different units, as shown in Figure 4 .
  • the top unit is by preference such, that the bandgap is larger than the bandgap of the underlying unit. In this case, the light which falls onto the underlying unit does no longer contain the photons which are absorbed by the top unit. Therefore, the signal produced by the underlying unit is solely due to photons in the spectral range which is above the bandgap of the unit, but not in the range of absorption of the top unit.
  • the size of the nanowires must be small enough such that growth of crystalline wires is possible. This typically requires nanowire diameters below 100nm. To get a bandgap shift with decreasing diameter, the diameter has to be small enough such that confinement effects are showing up. The diameter at which this starts is material dependent, but the shift typically starts at diameters of about 10 nm. If the nanowires are carbon nanotubes, the diameters are typically on the order of 0.5 nm - 6 nm.
  • Single wall carbon nanotubes offer wavelength-selectivity in the range of 0.3 eV to above 3V (see Figure 7 wherein the semiconducting carbon nanotubes are indicated as b), InP nanowires offer selectivity in the range of 1.4 eV to above 1.55 eV, GaAs nanowires at energies around 1.4 eV, ZnO nanowires at energies around 3.2 eV, etc.
  • the wavelength resolution of the wavelength-sensitive photodetector is determined by the difference in bandgap energy of two subsequent photoconductor units. Typically, a resolution of 10 meV or less is expected for most of the optical spectrum up to 3 eV.
  • the polarization of the incident light can also be determined, by producing units with same nanowires but with orthogonal orientations as shown in Figure 2 . This is because the incident light is only absorbed if the polarization of the light is along the direction of the nanowire length.
  • the (semiconducting) nanowires of the above described photoconductor units can have a doping profile and form photodiodes, such as pn-diodes, p-i-n diodes, avalanche photodiodes, etc.
  • a photoconductor unit containing photodiodes is then called a photodiode unit.
  • a photodiode contains a p-doped section and an n-doped section.
  • a p-doped section has either a constant or a varying p-type doping profile and an n-doped section has either a constant or a varying n-type doping profile.
  • each photodiode unit consists of two electrodes, in between which there are nanowires which consist of two sections: a p-doped section (e.g. left section) and an n-doped section (e.g. right section), as is shown in Figure 5 .
  • the wavelength-sensitive photodetector with photodiode units consisting of pn-diodes is preferred for high-speed applications.
  • the nanowires consist of three sections: a p-doped section (left), an intrinsic section (center), and an n-doped section (right) (not shown in a figure).
  • the p-i-n diode based units are preferred if both speed and quantum efficiency are important (with quantum efficiency being the number of electron-hole pairs generated per incident photon).
  • An avalanche photodiode is a photodiode, which operates at high reverse-bias voltages, and which has a structure is similar to the pn-diode. In general, in photodiode units the electrical response is faster compared to the previous described photoconductor units.
  • Combinations of the above-mentioned alternative embodiments are also part of the present invention, like e.g. vertical stacking of 2 photoconductor units with orthogonal orientations of the nanowires, or like vertical stacking of photodiode units. How these embodiments will respond and how they are built should be clear to a person skilled in the art.
  • the nanowire-based photodetector provides several advantages over conventional wavelength-sensitive photodetection systems.
  • a first advantage is the fact that the photodetector of the present invention does not require any additional or external components to obtain information on the wavelength of the incident light beam.
  • Another advantage of the present invention is that the selection of units with different bandgaps and different electronic density of states can be done very systematically, because the bandgap of semiconducting materials is well-known today, and the variation of the electronic density of states due to quantum confinement effects can be predicted very well by theoretical calculations.
  • Another advantage is the extremely large spectral range, which can be covered by the nanowire-based photodetector of the present invention.
  • units with nanowires of very high bandgap materials and of very low bandgap materials can be combined, such that the widest ever spectral range is covered by one detector.
  • the nanowire units are inherently small, and that the filtering and detection of the incident light occurs in the same unit. This is especially interesting for telecommunication applications, because the proposed wavelength-sensitive photodetector converts the optical signal of the incident beam in an electrical signal, while at the same time determining the frequency of the incident beam. With some additional on-chip logic circuitry, the signal can therefore be directed into the post-processing box for that particular frequency with hardware components only.
  • Novel application areas using a wavelength sensitive photodetector device comprising nanowires (carbon nanowires)
  • the photoconductor units comprising stacking of preferably nanowires with same characteristics are combined with each other and preferably placed on one single chip such that it meets the requirements of each presented application below.
  • the proposed device structures are not limited to the description below.
  • the first application field is situated within the field of cameras, more specifically in the field of color-sensitive cameras.
  • each pixel of a color-sensitive camera consists of three silicon detectors, each with a color-sensitive filter in front of them in order to distinguish between the 3 basic colors: red, green and blue.
  • each pixel can be represented with three (or more if higher color resolution is desired) units of the basic structure of Figure 1 . More specifically, each pixel can be represented by NW (or CNT) based photoconductor units, which are situated on one single chip.
  • the optical properties (absorption length, density of states, sensitivity,...) of the structures in each unit are determined.
  • Figure 8 illustrates thecolor-sensitive camera application.
  • the Figure shows a potential spectrum of an incident photon beam and the preferred bandgap choice for the three photoconductor units (further referred to as U 1 , U 2 and U 3 ) comprising NWs (or CNTs), which represent one pixel of a color-sensitive camera.
  • the signal of photoconductor unit U 3 determines the amount of light in the spectral range corresponding to blue light (500 nm - 400 nm) as shown in Figure 8 . From the signal of U 3 and based on knowledge of the optical properties of photoconductor unit U 2 , the background signal S 2,background of U 2 due to light in the spectral range of (500 nm - 400 nm) can be determined. The signal of U 2 minus the signal S 2,background then determines the amount of light in the spectral range corresponding to the green light (600 nm - 500 nm).
  • the background signal S 1, background of U 1 due to light in the spectral range of (600 nm - 400 nm) can be determined.
  • the signal of U 1 minus the signal S 1,backgroung then determines the amount of light in the spectral range corresponding to the red light (700 nm - 600 nm).
  • Preferred materials for photoconductor unit U 1 are e.g. Al 1-x Ga x As, InP or GaAs.
  • Preferred materials for photoconductor unit U 2 are e.g. Cu 2 O and preferred materials for photoconductor unit U 3 are e.g. CdS.
  • the second application field is situated within the field of telecommunication ; more specifically the wavelength-sensitive detector is used to convert the optical signal in an electrical signal while at the same time the frequency of the incident light beam is determined.
  • Typical light beams for telecommunication have a narrow spectral range, such that the photon energy is given by the bandgap of the nanowire-unit with the narrowest bandgap of the units which turn on.
  • the signal of all incident light beams can therefore fall on the same detector: with some additional on-chip circuitry, the obtained frequency information can be used to direct the signal into the post processing box for that particular frequency.
  • the third application field is situated within the field of spectroscopy ; more specifically the wavelength-sensitive detector of the current invention is used to determine the frequency spectrum of the incident photons. If the spectral response of all units is well-known and if post processing is used, the optical spectrum of the incident light can be constructed. This is achieved based on the spectral response of the different photoconductor units (which can be obtained via calibration of the different photoconductor units), and on the fact that from the signal of units with a large bandgap, the minimum expected signal in units with a smaller bandgap (which is then due to this high-energy photons) could be determined.
  • the signal is stronger than the predicted minimum signal due to high-energy photons, than it can be concluded that there is light in the spectral range between the bandgap of the unit under consideration and the bandgap of the unit with the smallest of the higher-energy bandgaps.
  • the absorption is not continuous. This fact can be exploited in the field of spectroscopy, because the lack of absorption in certain wavelength ranges and the enhanced absorption in other wavelength ranges, improves the wavelength distinguishability of the detector.

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  • Light Receiving Elements (AREA)
  • Photometry And Measurement Of Optical Pulse Characteristics (AREA)

Claims (25)

  1. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde comprenant au moins une première et une seconde unité photoconductrice sur un substrat (1) reposant dans un plan, chacune des au moins première et seconde unités photoconductrices comprenant une première électrode ayant une première surface principale reposant dans un premier plan et une seconde électrode ayant une seconde surface principale reposant dans un second plan, les premier et second plans d'une unité photoconductrice étant sensiblement parallèles l'un à l'autre et sensiblement perpendiculaires au plan du substrat (1),
    dans lequel la première unité photoconductrice comprend une pluralité de nanostructures allongées de premier type (3) positionnées entre la première électrode et la seconde électrode de la première unité photoconductrice, les nanostructures allongées ayant chacune un axe longitudinal, les axes longitudinaux des nanostructures allongées du premier type étant sensiblement parallèles les uns aux autres et sensiblement perpendiculaires aux premier et second plans des première et seconde surfaces d'électrode principales de la première unité photoconductrice, et
    dans lequel la seconde unité photoconductrice comprend une pluralité de nanostructures allongées de second type (3) positionnées entre la première électrode et la seconde électrode de la seconde unité photoconductrice, les nanostructures allongées ayant chacune un axe longitudinal, les axes longitudinaux des nanostructures allongées du second type étant sensiblement parallèles les uns aux autres et sensiblement perpendiculaires aux premier et second plans des première et seconde surfaces d'électrode principales de la seconde unité photoconductrice,
    caractérisé en ce que la pluralité de nanostructures allongées de premier type a sensiblement un diamètre identique et est formée d'une même matière et en ce que la pluralité de nanostructures allongées de second type a sensiblement un diamètre identique et est formée d'une même matière et dans lequel les nanostructures allongées de premier type diffèrent des nanostructures allongées de second type en ce qui concerne la matière et/ou le diamètre.
  2. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon la revendication 1, dans lequel la pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) est formée d'une matière semi-conductrice.
  3. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon la revendication 1, dans lequel la pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) est constituée par des nanotubes de carbone à paroi simple.
  4. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon les revendications 1 à 3, dans lequel la pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) dans au moins une des première et seconde unités photoconductrices est en partie à dopage du type N et en partie à dopage du type P de sorte qu'une diode PN est créée à l'intérieur de ladite au moins une unité photoconductrice.
  5. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) à l'intérieur d'une unité photoconductrice est empilée à côté et/ou l'une sur l'autre.
  6. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel les première et seconde électrodes sont faites de matières conductrices.
  7. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel ladite pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) d'une unité photoconductrice a un diamètre de 0,3 nm jusqu'à 300 nm.
  8. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon la revendication 7, dans lequel ladite pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) d'une unité photoconductrice a un diamètre de 0,3 nm jusqu'à 100 nm.
  9. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel ladite pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) est faite de n'importe quelles matières du groupe IV ou de composés binaires de ces dernières, matières du groupe III / V ou de composés binaires, tertiaires ou quaternaires de ces dernières, ou matières du groupe II / VI ou de composés binaires, tertiaires et quaternaires de ces dernières.
  10. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel ladite pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) d'une unité photoconductrice a un profil de dopage.
  11. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) d'une unité photoconductrice est incorporée dans une matière qui est transparente dans la plage de longueurs d'onde à détecter.
  12. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la première unité photoconductrice se situe entre le substrat et la seconde unité photoconductrice, et dans lequel les nanostructures allongées de premier type ont une plus grande bande interdite que les nanostructures allongées de second type.
  13. Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la seconde unité photoconductrice se situe au-dessus de la première unité photoconductrice, ladite seconde unité photoconductrice comprenant une pluralité de nanostructures allongées de second type (3) orientées dans une direction sensiblement perpendiculaire à la direction de la pluralité de nanostructures allongées de premier type (3) dans la première unité photoconductrice.
  14. Utilisation du détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 13 pour déterminer une fréquence de rayonnement incident.
  15. Utilisation du détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 13 pour déterminer une polarisation de rayonnement incident.
  16. Utilisation du détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon la revendication 15, dans laquelle la détermination de la polarisation de rayonnement incident est effectuée en utilisant au moins une première et une seconde unité photoconductrice, la première unité photoconductrice comprenant des nanostructures allongées de premier type orientées dans une première direction et une seconde unité photoconductrice comprenant des nanostructures allongées de second type orientées dans une seconde direction, les première et seconde directions étant sensiblement perpendiculaires l'une par rapport à l'autre.
  17. Utilisation du détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 13 pour transformer un signal optique en un signal électrique et pour déterminer une fréquence de lumière incidente en même temps.
  18. Utilisation du détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 13 pour représenter un pixel d'un appareil de prise de vues sensible aux couleurs.
  19. Procédé de fabrication d'un détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde comprenant au moins une première et une seconde unité photoconductrice sur un substrat (1) reposant dans un plan, comprenant les étapes consistant à :
    - fournir un substrat (1) reposant dans un plan,
    - fournir sur ledit substrat une première et une seconde unité photoconductrice, dans lequel l'étape consistant à fournir une unité photoconductrice comprend les étapes consistant à:
    - fournir une première électrode ayant une première surface principale reposant dans un premier plan,
    - fournir une seconde électrode ayant une seconde surface principale reposant dans un second plan, les premier et second plans étant sensiblement parallèles l'un à l'autre et sensiblement perpendiculaires au plan du substrat (1),
    - fournir une pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) ayant des extrémités, les extrémités desdites nanostructures allongées étant attachées à la première et à la seconde surface principale de la première et de la seconde électrode, chaque nanostructure allongée ayant un axe longitudinal, les axes longitudinaux de la pluralité de nanostructures allongées étant sensiblement parallèles les uns aux autres et sensiblement perpendiculaires aux premier et second plans des première et seconde surfaces d'électrode,
    caractérisé en ce que la fourniture des première et seconde unités photoconductrices comprend la fourniture d'une première unité photoconductrice avec un premier type de nanostructures allongées ayant sensiblement un diamètre identique et formées d'une même matière et d'une seconde unité photoconductrice avec un second type de nanostructures allongées ayant sensiblement un diamètre identique et formées d'une même matière, le premier type de nanostructures allongées étant différent du second type de nanostructures allongées en ce qui concerne la matière et/ou le diamètre.
  20. Procédé selon la revendication 19, dans lequel l'étape consistant à fournir une pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) est effectuée en faisant croître lesdites nanostructures allongées (3) au moyen de techniques de dépôt chimique en phase vapeur (CVD) ou de dépôt par laser pulsé (PLD).
  21. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 19 à 20, dans lequel l'étape consistant à fournir une pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3) est effectuée en faisant croître lesdites nanostructures allongées (3) sur la première surface principale de la première électrode.
  22. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 19 à 21, dans lequel, avant l'étape de croissance d'une pluralité de nanostructures allongées (3), des particules de catalyseur sont déposées sur la première surface principale de ladite première électrode.
  23. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 19 à 22, comprenant en outre la fourniture d'une matière transparente entre lesdites nanostructures allongées (3).
  24. Procédé selon la revendication 23, dans lequel ladite matière transparente est une matière sacrificielle qui est enlevée après la fabrication des au moins première et seconde unités photoconductrices.
  25. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 19 à 24, comprenant en outre l'ajout de circuits supplémentaires de traitement de signal à chacune des au moins première et seconde unités photoconductrices.
EP05077989A 2005-07-29 2005-12-27 Détecteur sensible à la longueur d'onde comprenant des nanostructures allongées Expired - Lifetime EP1748494B1 (fr)

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JP2006203330A JP2007043150A (ja) 2005-07-29 2006-07-26 細長いナノ構造体を有する波長センシティブ検出器
US12/574,531 US8232517B2 (en) 2005-07-29 2009-10-06 Wavelength-sensitive detector comprising photoconductor units each having different types of elongated nanostructures

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US8232517B2 (en) 2012-07-31
US20090266974A1 (en) 2009-10-29
US20100171025A1 (en) 2010-07-08
US7598482B1 (en) 2009-10-06

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